Milton sat down and Takashi took the seat behind the desk. Fumio stayed where he was, a few feet away from them, and the guard stayed by the elevator, close enough to get to Milton if he tried to do anything foolish. Takashi looked at Milton for a moment, appraising him. There was something in the way he held himself, the way that he had sat down in the chair, that gave Takashi reason to be cautious. There was a confidence to his bearing that was at odds with the way that he should have reacted. Takashi was used to inspiring fear. This man didn’t look frightened—not at all—and that gave Takashi cause for concern.

He steepled his fingers on the desk. “So—what is this business that you wish to discuss?”

“You lost something recently. A sword. It was stolen from you by your son, Miyasato, and then sold to Satoshi Furokawa.”

“And how is this your business?”

“I may be able to help you get it back.”

“Do you work for Furokawa?”

“No,” Milton said. “I work for myself.”

“What is it that you do?”

“I fix problems for people.”

“Like Sakura?”

Milton showed no reaction. “That’s right,” he said. “She needed help—I provided it.”

“How could she afford to pay for that?”

“I don’t charge. She was a deserving case. You treated her very badly.”

“Her husband stole from me,” Takashi said. “She is lucky she did not suffer the same fate as him.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree about that,” Milton said. “She told me what happened, and your brother confirmed it. Your son stole the sword from you to order. Furokawa was his patron. I’m sure you considered how you could retrieve it, but, with respect, you’re old and the yakuza have been overtaken by people like Furokawa. The sword was stolen more than six months ago and you haven’t tried to get it back. I think you’ve given it up.”

“You make many presumptions.”

“Are they wrong?”

Milton paused to allow Takashi to answer, but he chose to hold his tongue.

“I didn’t think so. You can’t go up against him without risking serious consequences. It’s different for me. He has no idea who I am.” Milton smiled. “I can take the sword back and there would be no link to you. Even in the unlikely event that I was discovered, how could anyone know I was working on your behalf?”

“Because I owned the tantō?”

“He could draw that conclusion, I suppose, but he won’t be able to prove it.”

“You think it would be easy to take it from him?”

“I’m sure it won’t be.”

“So why should I believe you when you say that you could?”

“You could ask your son about me,” he said. He looked around. “Where is Katsuro?”

“My son is a fool. That tells me nothing.”